Letting Go Of A Close Ally
by validatedadulthood
Summary: Set a week after the events of 'Breaking Dawn' and someone's leaving town for good. She just has one more goodbye to give. -One Shot.  I don't own the characters or Forks


A week had passed since the Volturi advance came to Forks and I had learnt to become grateful for the normality that my life seemed to have now. Every day the Cullens and I would watch Ness grow; in length and in intelligence. For a few days her only hobby was to relay the excitement of what had happened. Thankfully, she was still young enough to not fully understand what could have so easily occurred had the Volturi decided to fight. She'd even gone as far as to shown us how excited she was to meet Aro; his fascination with her had procured her respect for him- as much a three year old knows respect- and thus she was certain she wanted to meet him again in the future. (No way were we going to let that happen.)

After Ness settled down though, life did too. The pack had united again, Esme learned to fuss over us just as she had before, and in a way I enjoyed being a part of her family. Charlie came round to visit a few days ago, appreciating the newly-relaxed atmosphere that we had adopted here, even warming up to me slightly. Sam and Emily told me yesterday that they had set a date for their wedding; the idea of nearly loosing each other seemed to be enough to want to speed up the process of staying together forever. My life continued, tied to both La Push and Forks in equal amounts.

At the moment, Esme was flitting about cleaning the kitchen, Carlisle was up in his office I presumed, though I'd never actually been up there, Edward was pretending to read, though in a actual fact was watching Bella and I play with Ness. She was in the middle of putting together a one hundred piece puzzle and to be honest I was lost. Alice was ordering clothes online apparently; "does she always do that?" I whispered to Bells, who nodded seriously. Suddenly, Edward's head shot up, facing north out of the front door.

"Jacob, Leah's outside" he turned to face me before I could ask, "she wants to talk to you"

I hadn't seen Leah this past week but I'd been keeping up with the whole pack mind, and to me she seemed to be more quiet than usual. In honesty, this worried me a little; I was grateful to Leah for her loyalty and we had learned to become friends. This past week I knew would be hard for her because she was back to sharing the mind of the other boys, in particular Sam and I truly hoped that she was coping with it, but I wasn't convinced. I got up to leave,

"Ness, when I get back I want that finished, okay?" I joked, throwing the small piece that I held near her head, not hitting her with it obviously.

"Okay Jacob" she wasn't even concentrating on me when the words came out of her mouth, too engrossed in her own work.

I jogged out the door seeing Leah's figure dressed in smarter clothes I recognised from her pre-wolf days. Before all of this, she had a life; intending to go off to college and major in economics. I heard that ever since she was five she had wanted to manage her own money; a headstrong woman, her mother would call her. Seth remembered the times she would bully him into playing Monopoly and then strategise a way to win all the fake cash, or when she started selling her own inventions on the corner of the road whilst other girls sold cookies for their local Girl Guide group. Her plans were set in stone until she fell in love with Sam. She then came to believe that her dreams of independence could be delayed for him, but after he told her he no longer loved her, she decided it was time to pursue the 'Old Leah' attitude again. soon enough a college had been decided upon, money had been arranged, incessant calls to companies around New York became necessary and time-consuming and she was hardly seen without a phone in her hand. Things were looking better for her, right up until her father's death. Her transformation was the only thing that held her here after that.

Looking at her now, she seemed like a completely different woman to the one back then. She was nearer to the house than I would have expected; the smell must have been killing her, but I was grateful she'd travelled this far to see me. It also surprised me that she was actually in her human form; I didn't think her trust of the Cullens extended that far. What I noticed most though was the sad smile she wore as I closed the distance between us.

"Hey, you okay? What's up?"

She took a moment before dropping a duffle bag on the ground. _Oh_. "It's time for me to go, Jacob". Her words weren't loud and I didn't know whether that was due to our super sensitive hearing or because she was genuinely sad to be speaking them.

My lips pulled into a tight line; I had no idea what to say. If I was honest I probably knew this was coming soon; it wasn't like Leah to be so quiet, she had obviously been doing some serious thinking. And yet, I didn't want her to go.

"I came to say goodbye." Her words were short and to the point; so Leah, so I was surprised when they hurt.

"Are you..?" I couldn't really say what I wanted but I already knew the answer. Being inside each other's minds, we sort of had a wavelength; telepathy.

"No" she shook her head slightly... She wasn't coming back. "you probably won't hear from me much either; I'm going west, I figure it's neither hot nor cold and a nicer run as well; more sights to see. You know, for the last time..." saying the last part slowly,

I understood what she was trying to say; she had always been the one in our pack who hated being a wolf, resented it. The complete opposite of her brother. Leah would also do anything to never hear Sam's voice in her head again. She viewed her pre-wolf life as complete; hating everything to do with the supernaturals, and who could really blame her? It had ruined her, taken away her one true love, her chances of having children and the plans of a five year old girl. What Leah really wanted, what she had always wanted; was to be free of it. And now she could. The pack was big enough and the danger had passed; Sam had let her go, it was time for her to do the same.

She could see me working this all out in my head, maybe it was because I was an alpha losing a member of my unit, but in honesty I felt like I was losing a friend. Her sad smile returned, and though I could see the strength I'd had always admired in her, I could also see her need to leave and her fear of goodbyes. She had suffered too many in this life already, and she was only 23.

Her shoulders lifted ever so slightly, "thank you, Jacob." I suppose in a less serious time I would have mocked her for her sincerity; I could tell that she wanted to say more, but I had felt her gratitude toward me earlier so in honesty this moment didn't need it.

In any normal friendship there would be true expression of gratitude and love, but with Leah and I, less was always more.

Her 'thank you' settled within me and I could sense that it was for so much more than for being her alpha. I was as much her friend as she was mine, I would have gone with her, we would have left our heartache behind and ran together. I had saved her from Sam and let her see what she truly wanted; by breaking free of him myself I had given her the courage to do the same.

"You're welcome, Leah." I replied, simply.

A few seconds passed as she seemed to deliberate something, and then suddenly she embraced me and I could only hug her back.

"Take care, okay." She whispered, adding "...I'll see you soon." I'm not sure if she meant it or not, it seemed to me as if she was just saying goodbye in not so few words.

"Yeah" was all I could say, because I hoped it was true.

She let go of me then, turning to pick up her bag before adding in a much more light-hearted voice

"Oh and- before I forget, don't turn all 'vampirey' okay, just because you shack up with them now doesn't mean you _are_ one" she smiled,

"Promise" I half-heartedly saluted her,

"And look after Seth! Sometimes I worry about him. I mean I know you have your priorities-", her eyes darted toward the house

"I will," I interrupted "Seth's a good-"

"-kid. Yeah, Sure, Sure" she grinned. Thinking about it now, I realise that Leah had become my ally for a while, she was a lot like me, and we had shared similar experiences. It was a shame it took us so long really, if I had been there for her in the beginning maybe she wouldn't be leaving now.

"Hey, Leah!" I remembered as she turned to leave,

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." And those words had carried as much meaning as hers did.

"Hey, Jake?" Ness whispered coming up behind me as I stared into the place where Leah had disappeared,

"Yeah, Ness?"

"You gunna be okay?" she asked tenderly

"Course I am, I've got you" I smiled down at her as she smiled up at me, placing her little hand in mine,

"Sure you have." I couldn't help wondering who Leah had, and hoped beyond all hope that one day she would have someone. There was no way _she_ was imprinting though. So un-Leah-like.

"Jake?" my angel asked,

"Yeah, Ness?"

"I finished my puzzle" and then returned the proud smile of a three month -going on three year- old child, forgetting all about the loss of a grown-up man. I picked her up, cradling her in my arms,

"Well of _course_, you did. There's my girl" I said walking back inside the Cullen house. Anything for Nessie.


End file.
